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Harrison and Troy are ready to ride off into the sunset sooner than we may want. Is that really a surprise given their age? So why are we running a defense that is completely dependent on them and there appears to be no Plan B. Players leaving and injuries are a reality of the NFL. No defense should collapse if two players aren't there without the folks in charge having a plan.

They do have a plan. The plan is to play the defense the way it is called. Execute your assignments in a disciplined manner.

They haven't been doing that and Foote said as much.

The Steelers did not have Harrison and Woodley for a significant part of last year...they still finished with the top scoring defense...

They didn't have guys that stepped up and made "splash plays", but they just played sound defense...

The Steelers lose when two things happen: turnovers on offense and allowing big plays on defense...both of these things happened in both losses this year...

Harrison and Troy are ready to ride off into the sunset sooner than we may want. Is that really a surprise given their age? So why are we running a defense that is completely dependent on them and there appears to be no Plan B. Players leaving and injuries are a reality of the NFL. No defense should collapse if two players aren't there without the folks in charge having a plan.

I believe the world champion New York Giants are a great example of a defense collapsing because they were missing 2 defensive linemen. When those guys came back the defense got it together and the Giants won the Super Bowl.

Look at the Ravens this year. They are missing Suggs and their defense stinks. So please don't tell me that a defense shouldn't collapse if they are missing a player or two. It happens all the time.

Harrison and Troy are ready to ride off into the sunset sooner than we may want. Is that really a surprise given their age? So why are we running a defense that is completely dependent on them and there appears to be no Plan B. Players leaving and injuries are a reality of the NFL. No defense should collapse if two players aren't there without the folks in charge having a plan.

I agree totally. Also, I'm not saying that the defense shouldn't take a little hit with the loss of these two but, they are practically going into the tank without these guys. Remember how we couldn't stop the run when Smith was out ? Just seems like our defense depends too much on a spectacular play from one of our heros and eventually, heros will let you down, grow old and move on. This defense seems to be missing the backbone or nucleus that a quality unit should have.

I believe the world champion New York Giants are a great example of a defense collapsing because they were missing 2 defensive linemen. When those guys came back the defense got it together and the Giants won the Super Bowl.

Look at the Ravens this year. They are missing Suggs and their defense stinks. So please don't tell me that a defense shouldn't collapse if they are missing a player or two. It happens all the time.

Were those guys as old as our guys ? Anyway, the trouble is, it's more than just Troy and Harrison out from the games and what, should we just consider the season a loss if these two can't make it ? I wonder how affective these two will be and when their next injury will occur ? I'd like to remain positive but history tells a different story.

It's almost like the excuses that losers had during and after last season. We had a short camp so we weren't accountable for this or that. All teams had a short camp and some of those teams made it to the playoffs and Super Bowl.

A part of "Predictability" isn't always a bad thing but in DL case it is. The Ravens & 49ers are two of the most predictable defenses in the league when it comes to overall scheme in a game. Did I say that? Absolutely! You know that both of them are NOT going to let their foot off the gas. They will play bump & blitz no matter what the scoreboard says. That is why they are so good. Do they have better personnel getting after the QB right now? Yes they do but I'm talking about the "plan". They don't play into the offense's or QB's hand when they have the lead. They don't "let" the QB beat them...They "make" the QB beat them just like the first snap on D.

When your pass rush is down and you play call from the lead...Most NFL QBs will march their team up & down the field. If you play soft with no pass rush teams will convert 3rd down after 3rd down on you. Yes, the Steelers are struggling with "individuals" capable of winning the 1 on 1's & get to the QB so you have to do it by design. Make the CBs be CBs and get there with numbers. I'm not saying send the house but do your homework and overload. I watch DL's blitzes and he is trying to get there with numbers between the tackles off of a disguised fronts most of the time. I watch other teams get there off of a disguised fronts but they overload between the C & OT. Every defense hears who the C or QB calls out as the "Mike" presnap so the defense knows where the protection is going. Blitz packages can be designed off of the O identifying the "Mike". I see it happen with Lewis & Willis. I don't see it happening on this defense. Is it Foote or DL? I didn't see much of it for years so I would say DL.

Biggest problem on defense is consistency. Look great for a few plays or even a series, then blow a coverage or miss a tackle leading to a big play. Another indication is penalties. Coaches used to rave about A. Smith's consistency on every play. Scheme may play a factor, but it is the lack of sound basics from all the new faces is causing a lot of problems.

Biggest problem on defense is consistency. Look great for a few plays or even a series, then blow a coverage or miss a tackle leading to a big play. Another indication is penalties. Coaches used to rave about A. Smith's consistency on every play. Scheme may play a factor, but it is the lack of sound basics from all the new faces is causing a lot of problems.

A part of "Predictability" isn't always a bad thing but in DL case it is. The Ravens & 49ers are two of the most predictable defenses in the league when it comes to overall scheme in a game. Did I say that? Absolutely! You know that both of them are NOT going to let their foot off the gas. They will play bump & blitz no matter what the scoreboard says. That is why they are so good. Do they have better personnel getting after the QB right now? Yes they do but I'm talking about the "plan". They don't play into the offense's or QB's hand when they have the lead. They don't "let" the QB beat them...They "make" the QB beat them just like the first snap on D.

When your pass rush is down and you play call from the lead...Most NFL QBs will march their team up & down the field. If you play soft with no pass rush teams will convert 3rd down after 3rd down on you. Yes, the Steelers are struggling with "individuals" capable of winning the 1 on 1's & get to the QB so you have to do it by design. Make the CBs be CBs and get there with numbers. I'm not saying send the house but do your homework and overload. I watch DL's blitzes and he is trying to get there with numbers between the tackles off of a disguised fronts most of the time. I watch other teams get there off of a disguised fronts but they overload between the C & OT. Every defense hears who the C or QB calls out as the "Mike" presnap so the defense knows where the protection is going. Blitz packages can be designed off of the O identifying the "Mike". I see it happen with Lewis & Willis. I don't see it happening on this defense. Is it Foote or DL? I didn't see much of it for years so I would say DL.

Interesting that you mention the Ravens in this post. You do realize that our defense is ranked 5th in the league and the Ravens are ranked 23rd. That we are giving up 19.0 points per game and the Ravens are giving up 24.8 points per game.

Interesting that you mention the Ravens in this post. You do realize that our defense is ranked 5th in the league and the Ravens are ranked 23rd. That we are giving up 19.0 points per game and the Ravens are giving up 24.8 points per game.

So sure, let's adopt their scheme.

the Broncos scored 31 points against us, the Jets 10 and the Raiders 34.

that's 75 points divided by 3 which is 25 points a game. how did you come up with 19?

the Broncos scored 31 points against us, the Jets 10 and the Raiders 34.

that's 75 points divided by 3 which is 25 points a game. how did you come up with 19?

Oooops!

I read the wrong column on NFL.com

We are giving up 25 points a game and the Ravens are giving up 20.8 ppg. The feared Giants are giving up 21 ppg. None of those figures will put fear into the opponent.

Okay,my point isn't nearly as good now. But, people keep saying we play off of receivers and give them 1st downs. Well, we give up 19.0 first downs per game and the Ravens give up 24.8 (Hint on which column I misread ). The Giants give up 19.0 which is the same as us. The 49ers are better in both categories with 16.2 ppg and 17.5 1st downs per game.

I guess what I am trying to say is it's very hard to keep a dominant defense year after year with the rules so much in favor of the offense. It's not a problem we are facing alone.